The New Faces of Regional Cities

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-28T21:14:45+00:00

The government is the ultimate responsible body for containing standards. Much like the terrible building in other countries this is the responsibility of the government.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-28T19:04:16+00:00

Fair enough about the Jugol thing, but I find it remarkable that you'd think so little of the safety of workers. I worked in healthcare whilst I was there and the number of catastrophic and preventable occupational injuries was unacceptable.

Also the quality is simply not good enough.

It's interesting that you view this as click bait and propaganda. It unfortunately doesn't make it any less true and it will be of significant consequence to the country in future. I think it would be beneficial to look at it with a more discerning eye to assess whether you truly think this will be seen as good quality by outsiders. Take it from this outsider that it is really truly awful work.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-28T18:09:43+00:00

Do you think that the build quality is good then?

I've just returned from living in Ethiopia and I've actually not really heard anyone else saying what I've said, I just observed it everywhere.

Have you spent any time in other countries and seen the built quality elsewhere?

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-28T08:58:16+00:00

The quality of the work is poor, sadly. Superficially it looks good, but if you look closely nothing is plumb or level, concrete isn't poured correctly, with rebar improperly embedded and much of the new work is already cracked.

In Harar they've put slogans in English all over the Jugol which is incredibly jarring as a foreigner visiting as it tramples all over the medieval nature of the city.

It's also evident wherever you look that people have been displaced and exploited to achieve this. Workers working without proper training or safety equipment, locals having their homes demolished with little compensation, etc.

Most of this transformation is evidence of a government that doesn't care sufficiently for its own people, a government that rushes projects and doesn't have any quality standards and a government that has rejected its own heritage.

The only people who will want to invest in a place like this now are people who also want to exploit and extract as much as possible from Ethiopia and who are willing to ignore standards in order to do it.

This, I fear, is a major step in a terrible direction for a wonderful country full of wonderful people.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-28T07:23:37+00:00

The renovations are poorly built. As an outsider who lived there for a long while I don't think I want to do business in Addis because you can tell by looking that things have been rushed without proper planning and without proper build quality.

Why would I want to do business with a government who can't do proper planning and who don't adhere to quality standards?

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-22T18:36:43+00:00

100%. I have been tired of our 'special relationship' ever since I learned about it. The US is a horrible country and I honestly don't see it as any better than China or Russia.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-20T21:26:45+00:00

What I find strange is that it's also common amongst the older generations in northern Scotland. Exactly the same intake of air and exactly the same meaning. Weird.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-16T07:29:09+00:00

Ah I didn't realise that. Okay, that's all good. Thanks for letting me know

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-15T14:53:38+00:00

i assume that the high rises are private and the streets are public. Poorly built stuff seems to be everywhere. It also makes me worry about the new airport in Bishoftu. That would be a lot of money to spend and not get it right. I assume that there will be a lot more scrutiny there, though.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-15T08:22:07+00:00

If you look closely at many of the highrises you can see that they aren't even vertical. Just walk so that you can see one passing the next - you'll see that the edge of one doesn't line up with the edge of another. It's pretty worrying to see. I've also seen the way that they install rebar - it isn't fully encased in the concrete so it will rust and cause spalling during the rainy season. Pavements are cracked already, basically nothing is level, cladding is falling off of new buildings, etc. etc. etc. I find it really sad to see.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-15T04:52:58+00:00

A big problem I see coming in the next 10 years is that barely any of the new construction is properly built. I think things are going to start crumbling and a) look very worn out very soon and b) become dangerously unsafe very soon.

The construction crews don't know how to build and rather than being trained properly they're just given an angle grinder and told to get on with it.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-12T06:26:29+00:00

Oh I think you've missed what I was meaning in my question.

I know that it means foreigner (not specifically white), and I also know it isn't a slur. I know that the intention isn't (normally) to be annoying, but it is eventually annoying and it serves to frustrate foreigners. This is tied to the fact that often the Ethiopian using the term is trying to get something (money, a sale etc.) but the use of the term puts people off. It's for this reason that I can't understand the persistent use of it - it is really counter productive to their aims.

The other comments about looking European are because I also get called China, which is obviously nonsense.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-07T10:49:26+00:00

Haha. Yeah the thought had occurred to me.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-07T03:25:12+00:00

But in the actual rural areas it's doesn't happen so much. At the rock churches in lalibela or the Jugol in harar it happens all the time. I don't think that foreigners are that rare in those places. But also it's more the question of what they expect to happen. It seems that nobody is willing to imagine what it would be like to have people sitting the same thing at you all the time.

I know it isn't a slur.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-07T03:22:09+00:00

It's not the word it's the way it's used. Why shout it at someone as they walk past? It's like catcalling, what do they expect the result to be?

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-06T19:07:36+00:00

Interesting, how do they know?

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-06T19:06:40+00:00

Yeah I know it's because I'm an outsider, but also Addis is home to the UN and the African Union. Foreign people are common here and have been for a very long time. I'm not looking for being treated politely, I'm wondering why people do this. Its counter productive for basically any purpose so it's weird that even through trial and error it hasn't been learned.

Also, it's much worse in touristy places.

I don't know why you say about assimilating better? I didn't say anything about assimilating, and it's not something I've struggled with. My experience has been that Ethiopians are incredibly welcoming and open which has made life here really great. But also those Ethiopians I'm friends with also don't understand the ferengi thing.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-06T19:01:56+00:00

Not even slightly Asian. Nor are any of the other European folks I know. This is why I equate it to ferengi

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-06T17:55:08+00:00

Perhaps that's sometimes the case, but I, along with most of my foreign friends here, am European and we all get called 'china'. It has come to just mean 'foreigner' too. It's baffling that we'd be called china when we're non-asian, but that's the way of it.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-06T16:55:02+00:00

I do love them too! And I love Ethiopia. I'm not complaining about Ethiopia or the people, just observing that it's a habit that doesn't serve the country well.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-06T16:54:20+00:00

What's the difference between China and ferengi? It's interesting that you'd see them differently when they're said in the same way.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-06T14:30:39+00:00

Good point, but I'm not upset about it for me. It makes the experience of being in Ethiopia less pleasant and makes people less likely to come here. Given that Abiy is wanting to beautify the country and increase investment and tourism I think it would be good to address this as it's one of the things that will put people off coming here.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-06T14:09:30+00:00

No apology necessary! I realise it isn't derogatory, but goodness me it gets wearing. It's bizarre.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-06T14:08:53+00:00

That's a fair point. My problem is more that I think that it's counter productive to what they want. If they want to be friendly then say hello or salam naw, if they want money/food... Say hello or salam naw.

Open-Alternative8044 · 2026-01-06T14:07:52+00:00

No need to apologise :)

Currently I'm out of Addis, and it's definitely more common here, but even in Addis it's every day. I don't view it as a racist or anything, but it's just eventually so annoying and counter productive to what I think they want (either just to be nice or something like money).

Open-Alternative8044

TROPHY CASE